We are happy to join Write on the River in announcing our three winners for the 12th Annual Teen Writer’s Competition!
Jadyn Matson of Chelan won first-place for her fiction entry, “Over the Edge of the World.” Jadyn, a homeschooled sophomore, said her best writing teachers have been C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. She is a devoted reader and gains inspiration from books. She’s written short stories, but her biggest project is writing her own fantasy novel, which is now half finished. Her primary reader-responder is her cousin, who has always given good feedback on her writing. Read “Over the Edge of the World.”
Honorable mentions went to Jada Wood and Isabel Menna.
Jada Wood is a freshman at Cashmere Highschool. “My pursuit of fiction started when other books no longer satisfied me,” said Jada Wood. “I asked myself, why not write my own stories?” She is excited to see what writing she’ll do in the future. In the meantime, she reads, writes, makes art and bakes “cookies that never come out quite right.” She credits this writing award to the encouragement of her English teacher, Karen Gemeinhart. Read “Helios” by Jada Woods.
Isabel (Izzy) Menna is a junior at Cascade High School. Izzy is looking forward to being next year’s co-editor-in-chief of her school’s Publications Group and already has a good start on a professional career. She’s won national prizes for her journalism and writes magazine articles, and you may have seen her work locally in The Leavenworth Echo, The Wenatchee World, and Wenatchee Outdoors. Read “Lost Princess Found: A Story of Resurrection” by Izzy Menna.
We are honored to partner with Write on the River each year to host the Teen Writing Contest. The competition is open to high school students in 9th-12th grade (including students enrolled in public school, private school, home school, and running start). Students must reside in Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan, Grant, or Ferry counties.
New York Times best-selling author, Chelsea Cain, who visited Wenatchee as a 2011 Write on the River conference speaker, founded and continues to support the annual competition.
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